Saturday, February 16, 2008

Gatekeepers and Countrymen

I have to tell you, I think this one is a bit beyond me. I can't find a good answer to the question without discussing it, undoubtedly at great length. Determining whether the countryman represents the self or the subject, or an equal measure of both, isn't easy at all.
There was one line that caught my attention; "During the many years the man fixes his attention almost continuously on the doorkeeper. He forgets the other doorkeepers, and this first one seems to him the sole obstacle preventing access to the law." In becoming so fixated on this one obstacle, in letting his self become a subject so completely and fully, the countryman assures he'll never make it to the law.
The story seems to suggest that, in the natural way of things, we are never fully the subject or the self; Indeed, we have to allow ourselves to become one or the other in a given situation, and only when we lose ourselves so completely to one side do we no longer manage to function as individuals, be they unique or not.
I could also be completely off. This one's going to require some more mulling over.
Before I go, though, I have an odd question; did anyone else picture the gatekeeper as Robbie Coltrane, the guy who plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies? No? Fair enough.

1 comment:

eweaston said...

I did not see Robbie Coltrane, but realized as you raised this question, I always picture an animated situation.

You're right to recognize what a hard question this is and I'm glad you're looking to the discussion for some more time to think. Perhaps as a starting point we could address who in the story do we recognize as "the free self"?